Johnson joins the fray as Lions sharpen tour teeth

Tradition dictates that the average Australian, some of whom are decidedly average when it comes to rugby if the first two matches of the Lions tour were anything to go by, is entirely incapable of feeling disconcerted. Which is probably just as well, under the circumstances. Having leaked the not inconsiderable total of 199 points in 160 minutes of competitive activity, this most super-confident of sporting races must now get used to the idea of the Lions putting their first team on the field.

Martin Johnson will play against Queensland in Brisbane on Saturday, as will Jonny Wilkinson. About time too, you say? In fairness to the Lions management, there were very good reasons for withholding both players from the one-way matches against Western Australia and the Queensland President's XV.

Wilkinson's various end-of-season ailments ­ neck, groin, you name it ­ left him in dire need of some tender loving care from Dr James Robson and the rest of the tourists' supremely efficient medical staff. Johnson, meanwhile, was ordered to rest following a bruising conclusion to the northern hemisphere campaign.

If Johnson disapproved of the decision, he accepted it with a dark stare and a quiet growl of frustration. "I was disappointed to miss the first game in Perth," admitted the captain, who experienced something similar in South Africa four years ago when lingering fitness issues meant that the opening contests in Port Elizabeth and East London went ahead without him. "I made it clear that I wanted to go straight in, but the management felt that other second rows needed the rugby more than I did. I understand their reasoning, and, anyway, it would have been selfish of me to have insisted on turning out."

The gift of understanding seems to be common to the tourists' Leicester contingent: not even Austin Healey, the most talked-about Lion in the country after two blinding contributions from the replacements' bench, was in the mood to argue the toss yesterday, despite Graham Henry's decision to deny him a start in any of his many positions for the third successive outing. Healey will be on the bench in Brisbane, as he was in Perth and Townsville, and there is now a strong likelihood of his coming on to play "the impact role" come Test time.

"Austin has been a very positive force for us, and he's likely to start the match with Australia A in Gosford next Tuesday," said Henry, the coach, in justifying his latest selection. "He has spark, he has vision and he's bringing those qualities to bear on what we're trying to do. The fact that he's on the bench for a third time is a reflection of his form and it should be seen as a positive."

All the same, Healey can feel a trifle hard done by. On a relatively short tour, there are precious few opportunities for a player to force the management into rethinking their initial selectorial strategy, and while things may change, the Leicester Lip is currently a victim of circumstance.

Henry was at pains to avoid opening up a division between the Test candidates and the obvious midweek dirt-trackers. "I'd be very surprised if the side that takes the field against Queensland stays together for the first Test on 30 June," he pronounced. "You won't see the likely Test team until the game with New South Wales on Saturday week. It is very important to have unity within the group, because the Tests will be won not by the 15 blokes on the track, but by the entire party. A split camp is very definitely not the ideal."

Even so, there were clear indications of the coach's thinking vis-à-vis the opening confrontation with the Wallabies at The Gabba. Dafydd James has a God-given chance to put himself ahead of the competition for the problem right-wing slot after earning a second straight start in the No 14 shirt. "I think Dafydd had a big game in Townsville on Tuesday, even if he didn't pin back his ears and finish one or two moves as he should have done," Henry said. Dan Luger bears the stamp of a stone-cold certainty at left wing, Danny Grewcock is in pole position to win the battle of the "other four locks" ­ Johnson being a guaranteed Test starter ­ and the decision to rest Will Greenwood suggests that the Harlequins centre has set the standard in midfield.

So far, so hunky-dory. However, the threat of injury disruption is ever present. The problems affecting Phil Greening and Robbie McBryde have left the Lions badly exposed at hooker, and the tourists may well call for England's Dorian West if the former fails to pass muster when the state of his left knee is appraised in Brisbane today. And while Lawrence Dallaglio intends to play in Gosford next week, there is little sign of Mike Catt lacing up his boots in anger. "Our medical opinion suggests Mike will be available for the Australia A game," insisted Donal Lenihan, the manager. Judging by the Bath midfielder's exaggerated limp, that medical opinion may be more optimistic than realistic.

LIONS (v Queensland Reds, Brisbane, Saturday): I Balshaw (England); D James (Wales), B O'Driscoll (Ireland), R Henderson (Ireland), D Luger (England); J Wilkinson (England), R Howley (Wales); T Smith (Scotland), K Wood (Ireland), P Vickery (England), M Johnson (England, capt), D Grewcock (England), R Hill (England), N Back (England), S Quinnell (Wales). Replacements: J Leonard (England), G Bulloch (Scotland), M Corry (England), C Charvis (Wales), M Dawson (England), A Healey (England), J Robinson (England).

Australia A (v Lions, Tuesday, 19 June): R Graham; M Bartholomeusz, G Bond, N Grey, S Staniforth; M Edmonds, C Whitaker; C Blades, B Cannon, R Moore, T Bowman, J Harrison, D Lyons, P Waugh (capt), J Williams. Replacements: S Payne, J Huxley, J Holbeck, T Murphy, P Noriega, P Ryan, J West.